On Line Ballet Dictionary

Mikhail Barysnikov in Don Quixote.

There is an online ballet dictionary. Check out this link to see_some_professional_ballet dancers_demonstrate_the ballet vocabulary. Watch the quicktime videos and check out the definitions of glissade, ronde de jambe, and assemble. Tell me what you'd like to incorporate into your movement from watching these dancers.

Just for Fun

Please post your reactions this weeks class here.

Sir Ken Robinson

About this Talk

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize -- much less cultivate -- the talents of many brilliant people. "We are educating people out of their creativity," Robinson says. The universality of his message is evidenced by its rampant popularity online. A typical review: "If you have not yet seen Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk, please stop whatever you're doing and watch it now."

What did you think of what Sir Ken Robinson has to say about education? Does this resonate with your education? What does he say about dance and the body? How could education be different?

Syllabus

By popular demand, here is the syllabus!

DANCE 108, M/W/F 10:30-12:15, MNY 266
Winter 2008
Instructor: Louis Gervais, Graduate Student, UW Dance Program
Office: Meany Hall 59J
Email: lgervais@u.washington.edu

Office Hours: Mondays 12:30 - 1:30 pm and by appointment (The best way to set up an outside meeting is through email or approach me in person after class to set up a time.)
Course Description:

Welcome to Dance 108, Ballet Technique. This course offers guidance and instruction in the theory and practice of ballet technique at the beginning level.

Course Objectives:
Students of this ballet course will be encouraged to personally engage their technical dance training. It takes many years to develop the strength and flexibility that support the body in its aesthetic linear expression.
It is my hope that the tools you will acquire over the next ten weeks will enable you to not only get better at ballet, but also teach you how to continue on your journey as a dancer and artist.

Learning Goals
To understand your personal responsibility in your technical training.
· Expand your knowledge of ballet movement and terminology.
· Develop ballet technique that serves the individual artist.
Acquire a basic understanding of correct muscular-skeletal alignment· Develop an awareness of musicality while dancing.
· Use the ballet technique as a mode of individual and group artistic expression and communication.
· Learn and practice the culture of studio etiquette.
Suggested Reading
"Dictionary and Manual of Classical Ballet," by Gail Grant
"Inside Ballet Technique," by Valerie Grieg
"Ballet Basics," by Sandra Noll Hammond (or any dictionary/glossary of ballet)
Online Ballet Dictionary
American Ballet Theater’s ballet dictionary (also has Quick Time video for many of the terms) http://www.abt.org/education/dictionary/index.html

Ballet on Video and DVD (all at UW Odegaard Undergraduate Library)
List compiled by Betsy Cooper, Associate Professor, Director, UW Dance Program, Summer 2007 http://staff.washington.edu/mca/Ballet%20videos%20and%20DVDs.html

Requirements and Grading
Studio Participation (75%)
Participation grades reflect the following:
· Attending class on a consistent basis
· Arriving on time or early, giving yourself time to focus and prepare to fully participate in the class.*
· Demonstrating individual progress toward achieving the kinesthetic, aesthetic and intellectual goals of the course.
· Demonstrating a working knowledge of the classical ballet terminology at the beginning level.
· Attendance at Dance Majors Dance Concert in Meany Studio Theater
March 6 - 8, 2008 at 7:30pm
March 9, 2008 at 2 pm.
Tickets: Adults $18, UW Faculty/Staff & UWAA $16, Students/Seniors $10
Available for purchase at UW Arts Ticket Office (40th and University Way) or on-line
http://www.meany.org/tickets/index.aspx
*NOTE: Do not come to class if you are very ill. If you are not ill, but cannot dance for some other reason, you must observe class and make a journal entry. If you are contagious, then you should stay home, rest and get well.

Online Journal Responses (25%)
A blog has been set up for this course. Over the course of the semester, this blog will be the place where we as a class will share our thoughts and reactions to the course. Assignments will be posted here and your responses will be submitted electronically as comments.
The URL is http://www.uwdance108.blogspot.com/. Click on Subscribe to: Posts (Atom) and you will be alerted when new assignments have been posted. Some assignments will be experiential in nature and may require additional time outside of class.
Attire/Personal Belongings:
· Please dress neatly and simply – no baggy clothes or excessive jewelry. Long hair should be pulled back and securely fastened so that you can do consecutive turns and pirouettes. No hats.
· Use dressing rooms on Lower Level to change into dance clothes.
· Be responsible for your personal belongings. You are required to bring a padlock and use the lockers provided in the hallway. (Dressing Room lockers on Lower Level are for Dance Majors and Minors only) Hallway lockers are for use during class time only.

Missed classes: There are no make up classes or incompletes given for dance technique courses. If you are well, I will expect you to be in class and participating to your fullest. If you become injured or suffer a prolonged illness during the quarter then you will need to schedule an appointment with me (or send an email) to discuss your situation.

Academic Accommodations:
To request academic accommodations due to disability, please contact disabled Student Services, 448 Schmitz, (206) 543-8924 (V/TTY). If you have a letter from Disabled Student Services indicating that you have a disability that requires academic accommodation, please present the letter to me so that we can discuss the accommodations you might need in this class.
University of Washington Policy on Sexual Harassment:
Sex discrimination in the form of sexual harassment, defined as the use of one's authority or power, either explicitly or implicitly, to coerce another into unwanted sexual relations or to punish another for his or her refusal, or as the creation by a member of the University community of an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or educational environment through verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, shall be a violation of the University's human rights policy. (University Handbook, Vol. IV, p.44).
While most harassment involves men harassing women, either men or women can be harassed by members of the same or opposite sex. The University of Washington policy prohibits all forms of sexual harassment. The University will carry out a thorough investigation, protecting the rights of both the person complaining and the alleged harasser.
The University has been very successful in resolving sexual harassment complaints. If you believe you are being harassed, seek help the earlier the better. The University has designated special people to help you. Call the University Ombudsman and Ombudsman for Sexual Harassment at 543-0283 or 543-6028, or the University Complaint Investigation and Resolution Office at 616-2028.

88 year old ballet dancer from Megan

Thanks to Megan for sending in this link to a CNN story about an 88 year old ballet dancer in England. Click here. What do you think?

AC/DC

AC/DC is a term that applies to electrical currents. DC means direct current and AC is alternating current. With direct current, the electrons (either positive or negative) travel in one direction. With alternating current, voltage is continually changing between positive (+) and negative (-). Typically, DC gets hotter quicker and handles low voltages like in batteries best . Electricity can travel great distances in AC and can handle much higher charges. It also tends to remain cooler over time.

Traditionally, ballet is taught in a DC kind of way. The teacher gives the exercises. The students receive them through their senses and create memory files of information. The students then dance from these memory files. With one direction for information to move, students tend to overheat.

In Dance 108, as in other classes at the UW and elsewhere, an alternating current is employed. The traditional model is used and then juxtaposed with creative play and improvisation in order to refresh and reset the body and mind of the students. Students tend to receive information more easily with these refreshing periods.

What does this alternating current feel like in your ballet class? How does ballet feel? How does improv feel? Do you enjoy both equally? How is the transition between the two? What is most challenging to you as a dancer in this approach?

End of Week Thoughts

Dancers,

Congratulations on your first week of ballet. The comments have been interesting and varied. Kudos to those who have embraced this online process.

I'm glad to read that some of you have been reading each others entries. It's great to get a sense of what others are thinking and feeling. The connections that dancers are drawing from one anothers ideas as well as the unique and unexpectedly interesting perspectives are what the blog is all about. All the responses have been beautifully written and thoughtful.

If you have any thoughts or responses to your first week of class, I'd love to receive them. This is not an assignment, just an opportunity to share.

Cheers!

Louis

The Vitruvian Man

The Vitruvian Man is a world-renowned drawing created by Leonardo da Vinci around the year 1492. It depicts a nude male figure in two superimposed positions with his arms and legs apart and simultaneously inscribed in a circle and square. Leonardo based his drawing on some hints at correlations of ideal human proportions with geometry.

These ideas of human proportions and geometry play into the aesthetics of ballet line. Like the flower below, there is geometry in our physical instruments that we engage as we train.  Working in ballet helps the body to flower into its most extended expression.

How does it feel to look at the Vitruvian Man?  How would it feel to be the Vitruvian Man?  Does standing in first position with arms in second feel the same way?  If not, why not?

And to think (if he were a real person) he would have started out looking like this. What would it feel like to be this little guy?

Contained Within

This bud is on a Night Blooming Cereus. It blooms just once a year for one night only. It is a rare and special event. In Victorian times, people planned parties around the blooming of these plants.

All the design information and geometry in this blossom (as in any blossom) is contained in the seed of the plant. It just takes time and the right conditions for the plant to flower.

What do you think it feels like to be this flower? How do you think the flowering of a plant might connect to the study of ballet?

Placement

Dancers,

Having lots of students interested in dance is wonderful! However, having too many students can be problematic for the class. There are as many as eight students that will be joining Dance 108 from upper level classes. On Wednesday, Betsy Cooper (the director of the dance department) will be visiting class to see if there are students that could move up to higher levels. :) Those students who have never taken a ballet course before may be asked join Dance 102 which is a link between Dance 101 and Dance 108. Please talk with me after class on Wednesday if you think this issue of placement may pertain to you. Also, if Betsy or I feel this change may help you in your learning we will contact you on Wednesday.

Cheers!

Louis Gervais

Welcome to Dance 108

Welcome to Dance 108!

Over the course of the semester, this blog will the place where we as a class will share our thoughts and reactions to the course. Assignments will be posted here and your responses will be submitted electronically as posts. Click on the comments link below.

As we begin our work in beginning ballet technique, it would help me to have an idea of your backgrounds in dance and your goals for this course. I was 6 years old when I started dancing. The photo above is from my very first ballet performance of the Nutcracker. Briefly, please describe your dance background. Why are you taking this course and what do you hope to gain from the study of ballet?